This article aims at reflecting how English language teaching and learning can promote a decolonial approach, acknowledging diversities and non-hegemonic cultures. In order to illustrate a possible praxis, an analysis will be made using an NGO setting in Brazil. The reflections will be in dialogue with the theory of coloniality of power, from Aníbal Quijano, and critical pedagogy through the works of Paulo Freire and bell hooks.
Key-words: English language; Decolonial teaching; Migrant and refugee teachers.
Introduction
Language carries within itself not only the meanings of what one wants to say, but also the worldview, beliefs, experiences and power relations of the speaker. It is also an important means through which cultural practices are perpetuated as well as understood in society. Fennes and Hapgood (1997) consider language as being a crucial tool for people belonging to a culture, playing an important role in many spheres, such as relationships, in the negotiation of norms, spreading ideologies and worldviews, interpreting experiences, transmitting values and wisdom, and reflecting a culture’s history.
According to Baugh and Cable (2002), what defines the significance of a language are the circumstances that impact the hierarchical power among nations. Therefore, the language of a dominant nation will be more valued and will reflect the countries’ influence in varied areas, such as politics, economy, technology and/or military. Considering that language also contains the relations of power of a globalised world, the study of an additional or foreign language should also include critical reflections on social, cultural, political and economic themes that permeate its use. It is to say that language teaching and learning should not be limited to mere linguistic and functional structures, and one should understand the history and relations of power behind its development and its dissemination to other territories.
For many years my references in studying and teaching English were white and from the Global North. Besides being an English learner in a renowned British school in Brazil, I have worked in some language schools in which the standard teaching approach was inspired by the United States or United Kingdom models. It was only when I took on the position as an English pedagogical coordinator in a newly established non-governmental organisation that aims to support the socio-economic integration of refugees and migrants through language and culture courses that my perspective on English language teaching began to expand and become critical. As hooks (1994) declares, "the change in the way we think about language and how we use it necessarily changes the way we know what we know" (p. 231).
This paper aims at reflecting how English language teaching and learning can promote a decolonial approach, by fostering recognition of non-hegemonic cultures for teachers and learners from the Global South. In order to analyse a possible praxis with a decolonial approach in English language teaching, a non-governmental organisation setting in Brazil will be used as an example. To carry out this analysis, the discussions in this article will be in dialogue with Aníbal Quijano's theory of the coloniality of power, and Paulo Freire and bell hooks' critical pedagogy.
English language and colonial roots
According to Crystal (2003), the foreign language most widely learnt in the world is English, being taught in more than 100 nations. The author explains that for a language to achieve importance and recognition globally it has to develop a “special role” in every nation. It can be considered as an official language of a country or used as a communication tool in different spheres, such as in law, media, government, and education. It can also be chosen as the main foreign language education in a country, being or not the official language (pp.3-5).
There are many events that have influenced the spread of the English language across the globe, such as "the development of England as a maritime power, the expansion of the British Empire, and the growth of trade and industry" (Baugh & Cable, 2002, p.2). In this article the focus will be on colonisation as a key actor in the process of English language dissemination through the establishment of colonies by the British Empire, and the use of the coloniser's language for social, political and economic purposes worldwide.
Pennycook (2007) analyses that the connections between English Language Teaching (ELT) and colonialism during colonial times are crucial to understand the teaching and learning of this language over the years and its impact in present days. The author reminds that this relationship between ELT and colonialism happens through the material and the cultural aspects, particularly regarding the images of the Self and the Other, the Occident and the Orient. Through this lens, the English learners are considered as the “other” and from the “Orient” and the native speakers as the “self” and from the “Occident”. This idea of the Self and the Other is echoed in the difference of discourses between Western versus Non-Western views. The Self, or Western, is seen as the mainstream and superior over the latter - the Other or Non-Western - and this is an effect of the relations during colonisation and imperialism (Nair, 2017).
Indeed, through my experiences as a learner and teacher of English, I have seen that much of what is considered as a reference in ELT, particularly textbooks and teaching practices, often come from the United Kingdom or from the United States - the latter a former British colony that has become a major power influence. However, this is not surprising, as the top largest ELT textbook publishing companies are based in these two regions, the UK and the US (Wischenbart and Fleischhacker, 2020). Moreover, since its creation in 1934, the British Council has played a vital role in spreading ELT across the globe. As stated in their mission, the British Council aims at “promoting a wider knowledge of [the UK] and the English language abroad and developing closer cultural relations between [the UK] and other countries.” (Our History, n.d.). Currently, the organisation is present in 118 countries across the globe.
As Quijano (2000) advocates, the notion of globalisation that still resonates in the current world has a starting point with the constitution of colonies in the new world. Moreover, the power built in the global scenario during colonial times can be considered as the basis for the modern hegemonic and eurocentered force in place in today’s globalised world. Considering that the major sources of the ELT area are based in the UK and the US, it can be said that the English learning and teaching have been developed under this colonial notion of globalisation and cultural relations with colonies.
A decolonial approach
Drawing from Quijano’s (2000) thoughts, in order to resist colonialism and its influence that can be seen in all spheres of life, there must be a decolonial turn in episteme coming from intellectuals from former colonies that have been silenced over the centuries. Along the same lines, hooks (1994, p. 224) mentions a poem by Adrienne Rich in which she says that "this is the language of the oppressor, but I need it to speak to you”. According to the author, this phrase makes her reflect that the English language is the "language of conquest and domination" and that many other languages were excluded and forgotten so that English would prevail in the British colonies. The issue is not the English language itself, but the way it has been used as a tool for domination, exclusion and feeling of inferiority. Therefore, a break and transformation towards standard English allows room for a "culture of resistance" where it is possible to give voice to different non-hegemonic epistemes.
Understanding that English language has also been used as the language forced upon the colonised, and that the ELT area tends to follow a western and hegemonic perspective, a decolonial approach in English language teaching and learning is thus crucial for a critical pedagogy in the 21st century. However, there is still room to be discussed about foreign language teaching with references to non-hegemonic countries that have English as their official language, such as South Africa, Nigeria, Jamaica, India, Pakistan, among many other places in America, Africa or Asia.
In this sense, there are some burning questions to be addressed towards a decolonial approach in ELT: How to include a proposal for discussion on decolonial education in the training of English teachers? How to rethink the English curriculum for students? How can materials include Global South instead of only Global North perspectives? As also questioned by Pennycook (2007):
How can we teach English and teach about English teaching in a way that both acknowledges the colonial and neo-colonial implications of ELT yet also allows for an understanding of the possibilities of change, resistance, and appropriation? Is it possible to teach English in such a way that we can emphasise its post-colonial possibilities without ignoring its neo-colonial limitations? (p.22)
All these questions are echoed in Freire’s (2000) argument that education itself is a political act. Resonating with the Freirean discourse of political non-neutrality in education, hooks (1994, p.37) exemplifies this idea by commenting that "a white professor in an English department who teaches only 'great white man's work is making a political decision". This is a great example that demonstrates that the curricula, their goals, and the literature that supports them cannot be considered neutral.
Thus, taking into consideration the assumption of non-neutrality and the decolonial discourse, ELT practices must question their own teaching approaches and lenses in order to discuss new perspectives in English language teaching and learning. “Imperialism, coloniality of power and alternative epistemologies are not common issues to be included in teaching textbooks or the ELT classroom. Nevertheless, there is a need for those topics to be included” (Barrantes Montero, 2017, p.3)
A decolonial language teaching setting
The locus as a point of reference for discussing ways of thinking about English language teaching and learning with a decolonial approach will be Abraço Cultural São Paulo, a Brazilian non-profit organisation that offers language and culture courses with migrant and refugee teachers. With decolonial and intercultural perspectives, this innovative language course challenges the status quo of Eurocentric language teaching and learning and places non-hegemonic cultures and interculturality as a central element in the classroom.
First, the organisation only recruits people of migrant or refugee background who are willing to become language and culture teachers or continue their teaching path in Brazil. Offering the opportunity to migrants and refugees to be part of a socio-economic structure through language education is a way to listen to the voice and give protagonism to teachers to teach about their countries and cultures in a "counter-hegemonic act". (hooks, 1994, p.2). Moreover, as Freire (2000) argued, it is an intention to "transform this structure so that they can become beings into themselves" (p.74). For five years, I led a team of teachers from 11 different nationalities from the Global South in this NGO and their teacher training included discussions on hegemonic versus non-hegemonic cultures, cultural diversity, and appreciation of cultures from the Global South. The English classes in the NGO are taught by people from Syria, Nigeria and Egypt to a majority group of Brazilian students.
In addition, Abraço Cultural São Paulo creates its own language course textbooks which are written by Brazilian authors and promote discussions about migration, refuge, human rights, and interculturality. The course books also intend to foster critical language teaching and learning by raising awareness about cultural diversity and cultures from the Global South, offering a non-western language education, as well as stopping perpetuating stereotypes. Furthermore, the themes, images, text sources, and audios included in the textbooks are carefully chosen to respect and promote diversity and inclusion. Thus, images and stories of migrants, black, indigenous, and peoples of colour, and LGBTQIA+ populations, among other underrepresented groups are present in each textbook unit.
The NGO teaching and learning approach can be referred to what Walsh (2010) discussed as it intends to be a critical, intercultural, and decolonial pedagogical practice that aims not only to think "from" the struggle of historically subordinated peoples, but also "with" diverse individuals, knowledge, and ways of being and living (p.15). The long lasting effects of the colonial period and the relationship between coloniser and colonised still pervades ELT history and can also be seen in current educational praxis. To look only at two linguistic variants as possible (from the UK or the US) is to overlook the changes the English language has gone through over the centuries. Therefore, by offering protagonism for migrants and refugees to work with English language teaching and learning with a decolonial approach is to “make our words a counter-hegemonic speech, liberating ourselves through language." (hooks, 1994, p. 233).
References
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